lol...my take on this is that people from warmer climates look at wood differently than us in cold climates. As the debate between DrPizza and AViking shows. if you rely on wood to heat and you have winters like we do here, stealing wood is akin to stealing horses in the midwest or stealing money/food. I live in NH and you find plenty of serious woodburners with huge piles and who make wood cutting, splitting and stacking into a second job during the warmer months in preparation for the winter.
I can understand the desire for revenge if you come home and see that someone has stolen thousands dollars worth of wood and/or the equivalent to weeks of hard labor. Sure you can call the cops but when your wood pile is diminishing day by day, taking matters into your own hands is what is called for. The boobytrap may be unethical but it arguably works better than calling the cops and if done correctly stops the problem in its tracks.